WelDest results at the ITB2014 by Professor Illing

Results of the WelDest primary research were presented as part of the convention program for tourism professionals at the world’s leading travel industry trade fair ITB in Berlin the 6^th of March. Approximately 200 professional visitors listened to the lecture of Professor Kai Illing(FH Joanneum, Austria).

Dr. Illing presented the main results (see the whole research report ) emphasizing especially the customers’ need to escape the pressures of everyday life and to get mentally refreshed. According to the research results customers think they can best fulfil their needs and do something for their health if the destination can offer pampering services and relaxation in a beautiful landscape.

Illing concluded that companies, especially spas should utilize local natural assets in different forms:

·         by offering guided or self-directed outdoor activities, which can stress the physical condition (e.g. hiking) or the mental condition (e.g. meditation  at a nice brook)

·         local natural materials can be used in furnishing and decoration

·         natural assets can be used in treatments (e.g. local plants and herbs in treatments and cosmetics)

·         the brand of the destination or a spa can be based on the diversifying natural assets the region has.

Illing’s presentation was supported by Wellness Survey results by Beauty24 and Wellness-Hotels & Resorts who have conducted research on both sides of the market – the customers and hotel-owners. At the slides of Ms. Wibke Leder, the Press Officer of Wellness-Hotels & Resorts, one can see percentages of appreciation by the customers.  

 

 

The Kranzbach

Best Practice Nature Spa in the Bavarian Alps

No children, no events, no wedding celebrations, no external guests, no day spa guests. Since its opening “The Kranzbach” has consistently focused on being a hotel that serves as a wellness refuge.

Located alone in its own 130,000 m² alpine meadow, surrounded by woods and impressive mountain scenery with a view of the Zugspitze, it promises its guests a maximum of recuperation, relaxation and wellness. There is no through traffic and there are no neighbours to disturb the guests. They can sleep deeply with the window open to breathe the fresh mountain air. It´s part of the hotel’s philosophy that there are no public events held in the hotel and that the restaurant is only for those guests who stay with them. This place is peaceful – a protected mountain valley, 1000m above sea level and 15 km from Garmisch-Partenkirchen.

source: daskranzbach.de

The architecture of the main building, called “The English Country House” seems like a fairytale dream. It was the honourable Mary Isabel Portman, a lady and musician from London, who built "The Kranzbach Castle". It reminds one of Scottish or Irish country houses built out of natural stone and with the property´s typical gables – which look like stairways.

The path to this huge wellness refuge in the south of Germany began in 1947, when the Dortmund Evangelical Church began to offer vacation resort activities in “The Kranzbach”. In late 2003, the Church sold the property to its current owners, who already operate the highly renowned wellness resort in Austria, "Der Steirerhof" in Bad Waltersdorf. From then on the new owners renewed parts of the house and built up a completely new separate spa building and a modern garden wing, which is constructed predominantly of wood and glass. The spa has four pools, both indoor & outdoor, nine saunas and steam rooms, a huge relaxation lawn with lounge chairs and blankets, a covered relaxation terrace, relaxation rooms with open fireplaces, an individual “Ladies Spa”, two yoga halls, some rooms for massage, cosmetics, Ayurveda or TCM. You can be very active there or deliberately do nothing at all but relax.

Today “The Kranzbach” is ranked among the top three German hotels. Since 2008 each year the Relax Guide has given this special wellness refuge four lilies (19 points), which is the highest rating possible in this German-language wellness guide. I promise, all you have to do is look at the impressive pictures on their website, and you will also want to go there.

Let yourself breathe.

For me, it´s definitely a place to be!

Kathrin Hofer (FH JOANNEUM) 

Embracing the Wellness Revolution - Samantha Foster at ITB

As part of the Wellness Experts Forum at ITB, Samantha Foster, from Destination Spa Management, Ltd., gave a fascinating talk on how to deliver wellness through the spa business. The issues she addressed included defining exactly what the term “wellness” means, whether it is needed for a business, and how to implement it.

She pointed out that there are many different aspects to wellness – intellectual, spiritual, environmental, emotional, social and physical. That it is far more than just “mind, body and spirit”, and therefore there is a lot of confusion not only among consumers (who have often been trained to understand wellness as just pampering), but among those in the industry as well.

Changes and trends such as our increasingly high stress lifestyles, aging and growing populations, improved technology and access to information, and unsustainable medical systems are all driving the wellness industry. Ms. Foster emphasized the huge toxic burden in our bodies, and explained that while we cannot live in a bubble and avoid these threats altogether, through wellness we can work to mitigate the damage and prevent it from getting worse.

In the next part of her talk, Ms. Foster discussed how businesses can implement wellness. She stressed that the owner’s objective and view is one of the most important factors in implementation. If that commitment is lacking, the success will not follow. There needs to be a firm spa concept, consistent with a wellness philosophy. The services the business wants to offer need to be affordable, available, sustainable, and of course legal. The resources must be there, and they have to be implemented properly.

Finally the extent of wellness offered can vary and depends on the businesses concept and positioning, the specialist expertise required, the guest profile of course their budget! Wellness on offer can range from a day spa, especially offered in hotels with a day market, to a destination spa in which absolutely everything is planned around wellness, and can offer consumers a comprehensive approach to lifestyle improvement and health enhancement.

WelDest travels featured by Nordic Wellness Travel - have a look!

Sanna travels to Berlin and Bad Saarow

European Wellness Tourism Expected to Grow 7.3% through 2017

Susie Ellis, Chairman and CEO, Global Spa and Wellness Summit, presented the outcomes of the research study The Global Wellness Tourism Economy 2013 at ITB Berlin this week.

According to S. Ellis and the outcomes of the research, wellness tourism is a nearly half-trillion dollar market, representing 14 percent of total global tourism revenues, ($3.2 trillion) overall, and is directly able to create 12 million jobs. The proposal for future growth is 9.1% annually through 2017.


Typical wellness markets are Europe (203 million trips) and North America (163 million trips), but Asia and Latin America are the wellness destinations which will grow more dynamically. Domestic wellness tourism makes up 68% of revenues, but domestic tourists spend less money per trip ($680) than international tourists ($2066). However, the domestic wellness tourist spends about 150 percent more than the average domestic tourist. 13 of the top 20 nations for domestic expenditure worldwide are in Europe – with Germany in first place, the United Kingdom in third place, and Austria in sixth. European wellness tourism is expected to grow 7.3% through 2017, is responsible for 2.4 million direct jobs across Europe, and the total regional economic impact is 451.7 billion USD.

S. Ellis spoke about the common terminology focusing on the differences among health, medical and wellness tourism. She advised unambiguously to use the term medical tourism rather than health tourism. The experts identified five key aspects to make wellness tourism stronger:
• focus on a unique, indigenous offering
• do not confuse wellness and medical tourism
• do not forget the domestic wellness tourist
• package wellness tourism and emphasize the “feel good” factor
• “eco” message is key to wellness tourists.

Wellness tourism has synergy with other high profile niche segments such as, for example, cultural tourism, culinary tourism, sport tourism and sustainable tourism.

More at www.gsws.org. (This article also available in Czech)

Source: Susi Ellis, The Global Tourism Wellness Economy 2013, ITB Berlin 2014.